CA: Tips to Protect Your Passwords

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—Attorney General Ashley Moody is urging Floridians to take action to guard their passwords in recognition of 2021 World Password Day. In support of this occasion, Attorney General Moody is offering tips to help Floridians strengthen passwords to guard against identity theft, hackers and fraud.

Attorney General Ashley Moody said, “Hackers and scammers were ecstatic that COVID-19 forced millions to work remotely and engage in even more day-to-day interactions online rather than in person. The sudden surge in work from home and online education provided more opportunities for scammers to steal sensitive information. Pandemic or not, online identity thieves and hackers are always on the prowl, so it’s critical to protect your privacy by using strong passwords.”

Attorney General Moody is issuing the following tips encouraging Floridians to create strong passwords to protect against identity theft, hackers and online fraud:

• Change an account password if it has not been updated recently;
• Utilize a different password than the default password of a new account or device;
• Never sign into accounts using public WiFi networks;
• Enable multifactor authentication whenever possible;
• Use a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and special characters in a password;
• Never employ the same password across multiple accounts;
• Choose strong security questions with answers that cannot be easily guessed or found online;
• Immediately alter the password of an account if the account provider experiences a data breach; and
• Never provide log-in or financial information in response to an unsolicited email, phone call, text or social media message.

In December 2020, Attorney General Moody issued a Scams at a Glance resource that provides warning signs that identity theft may have occurred, additional ways to guard private information and steps to recover from identity theft.

To download Scams at a Glance: Identity Theft in English, click here.

To download Scams at a Glance: Identity Theft in Spanish, click here.

Scams at a Glance is an outreach program created by the Florida Attorney General’s Office, complete with a webpage containing information about common and emerging scams. The webpage also provides downloadable brochures designed to equip consumers with knowledge about how to avoid falling victim to fraud. All Scams at a Glance brochures are free to download and are available in both English and Spanish.

To access the Scams at a Glance webpage for more content related to common scams, click here.

The Florida Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division issues Consumer Alerts to inform Floridians of emerging scams, new methods used to commit fraud, increased reports of common scams, or any other deceptive practice. Consumer Alerts are designed to notify Floridians about scams and available refunds in an effort to prevent financial losses or other harm caused by deceptive practices. Anyone encountering a scam should report the incident to the Florida Attorney General's Office by calling 1(866) 9NO-SCAM or visiting MyFloridaLegal.com.